At my institution, we have plaques (put up in each classroom two days before
an accreditation visit) that mandate teaching the following 6 campus-wide
abilities: Effective Citizenship; Critical Thinking and Problem Solving;
Information Technology Awareness and Use; Global/ Multicultural Awareness;
Lifelong Learning Approaches and Capabilities; and Communication.
For Effective Citizenship I use a film, "The Rise and Fall of the Third
Reich" narrated by William Shirer as a conversation starter. For Critical
Thinking, I use the infamous Milgram-Yale experiments (grad students
following orders and zapping research subjects with what they believe to be
"lethal doses of electricity" on the basis of spurious orders--"I was just
following orders..."); For Global/Multiculturalism, I have students go
online and examine/order addresses of "Mail Order Brides" and to discuss the
impications of the business--commodification of people, alienation,
reification, objectification, sexism, racism etc--and to do a comprehensive
profile of the countries from which the "Mail Order Brides" are coming.
Isn't real education supposed to be subversive?
Jim C
James Craven
Clark College, 1800 E. McLoughlin Blvd.
Vancouver, WA. 98663
(360) 992-2283; Fax: (360) 992-2863
blkfoot5 at earthlink.nethttp://www.home.earthlink.net/~blkfoot5
*My Employer Has No Association With My Private/Protected
Opinion*